Those of you who still believe the fantasy that electric scooters are replacing car trips or used for the "last mile" to or from the Expo line, should take a walk on the beach path. In theory, motorized devices except wheelchairs are prohibited, but the scooters are lined up all along the path and many riders are using them for their real purpose, just like the ones on the streets and sidewalks, as new toys for "fun" rides. Some of the riders are kids, too young for a driver's license, some parents ride two to a scooter holding their kids, and NO-ONE is wearing a helmet. The scooters are present in Palisades Park, where motorized devices except wheelchairs are also prohibited, and even on the pier crowded with visitors.
The city council has given the two companies carte blanche to put scooters wherever they want, and the riders freedom to use them as they please, without any consideration for those of us who walk and are inconvenienced by them. If the council had been reasonable, they would have limited the number of scooters in the city, but now that the floodgates have been opened, at least they should enforce the rules.
Fredric Reichel
Santa Monica
